Schools in disadvantaged areas are struggling in the current economic and political environment. Like schools everywhere they are being asked to do more with less, but they face more obstacles. In recent years, education policy has shifted from a holistic approach to learning to a focus on narrow educational outcomes: spelling, reading and writing. Thomson shows that this approach penalises disadvantaged schools and argues that educational and social disadvantage are inextricably linked in children's everyday lives. Examining primary and secondary schools in disadvantaged areas in a post-industrial ("rustbelt") city, the book reopens the debate about inequality in schooling. It provides concrete evidence that typical government policies in the Western world are not working, and that they are helping to create a permanent underclass. Thomson outlines an alternative whole of government approach to policy, which builds on those school programmes that do make a real difference to educational outcomes. Thomson also emphasizes the influence of local geography. Schools are coloured by particular neighbourhoods, permeated by national and global events, and tangled in complex networks of social relations. Interventions which work in one school may not work in others.

Author Biography

Pat Thomson is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of South Australia. She is well-known for her innovative work as principal of disadvantaged schools in Adelaide. She has also worked in education policy and speaks regularly at conferences in Australia, North America and the UK.